Have you ever wanted to make a little something special for your scrapbook page? It might be an element, might be just creating your own word art or an eye-catching title. If you have, I’m sure you have entered the wonderful world of using Photoshop styles.

Have you ever wondered about smart objects in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? Well, I did a very unscientific poll of our Peers and only 20% of us consciously use smart objects. So, let’s explore some basics. While there are benefits available in the full version of Photoshop that are not available in Photoshop Elements, today, we’ll be looking at the common aspects that are supported by both.

Hello everyone! Have you been enjoying all the talk this month on the Scrapaneers blog about digital embellishments? Judie talked about combining flat and dimensional elements on your pages and Kat talked about the art of shadowing embellishments on your pages. I’m taking a slightly different spin on the topic. While they talked about designing your page, I want to talk about customizing your embellishments using Photoshop before you use them on your page – things you can do digitally with your embellishments to personalize them and make them work perfectly for YOUR particular page. You can be scrapping with a designer’s absolutely stunning kit and with a little Photoshop know-how you can take those already awesome digital embellishments and make them work even better for your particular page. Curious yet?

Hello everyone, and welcome to digital embellishing month on the Scrapaneers blog! I’m going to share some tips with you for combining flat and dimensional embellishments to make a realistic looking page design. A lot of scrappers think you can only achieve dimension by adding “fluffy” embellishments to your pages, but you will actually achieve greater dimension with a mixture of both flat and 3D elements. Ready to get started? Then come on in and join me . . .

Embellishments are fun additions to our scrapbook pages. They can add drama, whimsy, pull the eye into areas that we’d like in focus … and more. Flowers, buttons, paperclips, word strips can all add that certain “something” to a layout – but (and isn’t there always a but?!) to really pull off the look of creating a realistic-looking page, it takes … shadows! You know the kind of page, right? The one where your non-digital scrapbooking friends want to reach out and touch everything. The pages where non-scrapbookers can’t wrap their head around the fact you created everything on the computer – yeah, the computer! Shadows can be tricky and, for the new scrapper and experienced alike, a challenge at times. When it comes to shadowing embellishments, not all shadows are created equal. I’m here today to share with you what goes on in my head when I create shadows for my scrapbook page elements.

Congratulations to all of our winners! If your username is listed above, please contact us at Student Support. We’ll coordinate your prize! If you participated in the Scholarship challenge, we’ll send you a message via the forum to collect your prize by Friday, August 14.

Thank you to all again who took the time out of your schedule to celebrate with us! Until next year.

The Digital Coffee Break caught up with Cathy Zielske for a wide-ranging discussion on scrapbooking from her favorite tool for building digital and hybrid layouts (it’s NOT Adobe Photoshop or Elements) to her designer secrets for stand-out titles.

And completing each of those challenges, gives you a chance to win some cool prizes including hundreds of dollars in gift certificates, free classes — even a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small Tablet!

Now here’s the best: Complete ALL four layout challenges and you’ll be entered to win an entire year of Scrapaneers classes! That’s right — a Scrapaneer Scholarship. Each month, you’d let us know which class you’d like to enroll into and we’d give you full access! Any class. Any dollar amount. Brand spanking new or an older favorite. Self-paced or instructor-led. Digital scrapbooking goodness at your disposal!

Can you believe it’s Friday already? After a long week of work, it’s definitely time to celebrate with us here at Scrapaneers. So grab a piece of cake, put on a party hat and let’s get scrapping on this Day 5 of our birthday challenges!

Trust me, you REALLY, REALLY want to try this challenge. Why? You’ll get a chance to try some fun techniques and a chance to win…are you ready for this?…..a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small Tablet!!!!

Each of our modified favorites include demonstrations of fun, digital scrapbooking techniques with all-star designers and page creators. And you can watch, learn, master and use their techniques on your layouts and projects too!

Today’s recast highlights our very own Peers team member Judie Barger who knows a thing, or a million, about embellishing, layering and shadowing. In Part 3 of her 1.5 hour long interview, Judie shares her artistic process for building elegant embellishment clusters.

We are an educational resource made up of a group of passionate instructors, coaches, writers, page designers, pros (all scrapbookers) that helps digital scrapbookers by providing endless creative & technical strategies so you can design beautiful digital scrapbook layouts in less time and with less frustration.